Chicago Blizzard of 2011

I am a fan of snow. I love to play in it, build in it, eat it, jump in it, and pull my niece in it. I don't even mind driving in it most days. The blizzard that hit Chicago (and many other places in the Midwest) reminded me of my senior year in high school when I worked "blizzard duty" at our local radio station. This year, I was working again - Founder's Week, Moody Bible Institute's annual conference for students and alumni. We always joke that we need to pack warm because Founder's Week seems to always be the coldest week of the year, or at least month. This year we had a blizzard. We were broadcasting all of the morning and evening sessions with music and speakers...."the show must go on!" I was working evening sessions and thankfully we had enough of a heads-up from the National Weather Service that we were able to get a room to stay in Tuesday night, the first night the blizzard hit. This is the view from our window.

2 Feb 2011 - View from my hotel room

People were the strangest thing to watch. Because the sidewalks weren't plowed, they headed for the streets to walk (see above and below). There weren't many out walking and those that were didn't seem to remember that cars were also using the roads. We (in our car) trailed behind a group of three men walking at one point -- they were oblivious to us behind them. The city looked like a ghost town covered in piles of freshly fallen snow. It was quite beautiful in an eerie way.

2 Feb 2011 - Chicago street

Lake Shore Drive was also a mess. Lake Michigan waves were crashing onto the road (which is already something crazy to see - let's make them 18-25 feet high and add blizzard temps and winds plus snow!). Cars were stuck when they closed down the road so people waited for hours, then abandoned them (below). It was quite a sight!

2 Feb 2011 - Lake Shore Drive

The clean up efforts were slow and with last weekend's melt, much of the snow is disappearing. But here are three people working quickly the next day on a parking garage roof I can see from my office window.

2 Feb 2011 - View from my office window

 
The whole thing was an adventure. Founder's Week happened with a bit more effort. MBI was closed for one day that many of us got to work because of the conference. But everyone who was there appreciated our efforts. And listeners on the radio didn't know any different - other than a few more weather jokes and a few speakers that were changed.